Sustainability Community

Hi All 

If your looking at some of the problems and opportunities corporates encounter in this area this CDP paper to the G20 is an interesting read especially when engaging with companies, asking questions about what they do and can do in the area of deforestation and biodiversity.

My highlights from a quick read of the paper:

Five frequently identified factors challenging Nature and driving deforestation

🔥 Extreme weather: drought, floods, fire, erratic climate at key points in crop cycle (Climate Change) 
🔥Value of Natural products encourages unsustainable exploitations with no enforcement of sustainability. (Organised exploitative and criminal economic exploitation
🔥Lack of governance over access to Nature resources, control of activities, lack of rules and enforcement.
🔥Poverty and destitution local populations with no alternative means of economic survival be that exploitation for subsistence or becoming the base of supply chains for cash to purchase basic needs
🔥Land use change driven by economic activity

Lots of opportunities/benefits are identified from engaging and operating with an NbS mindset that benefit corporate value, sustainability and value.

✅ Resilience of supply
✅Premium for traceability and certified sustainable sourcing
✅Opportunity to reduce waste in the supply chain upstream and downstream
✅Creating brand value at corporate and product level
✅Improved employee relations (recruitment and retention)
✅Via supply chain co-operation and system adaptation improved resilience
✅Potential to monetise lowering carbon footprints and reducing industrial input costs

A call also now to get Government global, national and local to work with the private sector. 

I felt the biggest issue was greater integration of thinking and action with governments.  Not just at the Macro level although standards and fiscal policy etc help a bit but at the more local level too.  They recommend a Jurisdictional approach to Private - Public collaboration.  This I think makes perfect sense as Nature and Social benefits are significant at a local level as well as contributing to the global decarbonisation drive.  Public sector has final responsibility and a primary role in generating "public goods" so where cooperation with the private sector can support and generate public good as a by-product it is a win-win to have close co-operation.  Encourage corporates to engage locally and nationally with government to solve barriers to making nature positive change.

David Manuel MA (Cantab) PhD ASIP on LinkedIn: #impactinvesting #sustainableinvesting #deforestation #naturebasedsolutions